Chapter 3

Chapter 3

English Comp

Revision means “re-seeing”. Looking at your draft as your reader would, you cut, add, and reorganize until the ideas make sense on their own. Revision is not the same as editing.

In revising you make fundamental changes in content and structure

The difference between revising and editing is important because attention to little changes distracts from a view of the whole. If you try to edit while you revise, you’ll be more likely to miss the big picture. And changing sentences you might choose to cut out later.

Most difficult challenge of revision is reading your own work objectively, as a reader would.

Put your first draft aside for at least a few hours before attempting to revise it.

Make an outline of your draft by listing what you cover in each paragraph, the outline can show any gaps, overlaps, or problems in organization.

Read the draft out loud. Speaking the words and hearing them can help create distance from them.

Your first goal in revising is to see that your essay is well focused. Readers should grasp a clear purpose right away, and they should find that you have achieved it at the end.

Readers do not have to wonder what the essay is about or what a particular paragraph has to do with the rest of the essay.

The ideas develop in a clear sequence, the sentences and paragraphs connect logically, and the connections are clear and smooth. The writing flows.

Readers will know only as much as you tell them about your thesis and it’s support.